Saturday, 1 October 2011

The next global warming scare: "Too hot for chocolate?"

Things are getting really serious in the global warming business: A new cocoa report funded by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation predicts a one-degree Celsius temperature rise by 2030, increasing to 2.3 degrees Celsius by 2050, "which is enough to inhibit the development of cocoa pods, which could send yields crashing and prices soaring".

Still, the lead author offers some consoling words to all chocolate addicts in the world:

“There is no doubt that these findings are severe,” said CIAT Peter Laderach, the report’s lead author. “But preparation is the name of the game. There is a lot that farmers, governments, scientists – and key players in the cocoa supply chains – can do to help protect and improve cocoa production. But these measures need to be implemented very quickly.”

And even if the scenario indicated in the cocoa report would actually materialize - which is highly unlikely - there is always the other side of the coin: the teeth of millions of people would be in better shape.